Alderman Arnold Hatch (Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, Northern Ireland, UK/ Member of CoR and ECR Group Presidency/ President of the Northern Ireland Local Government Association) speaking at the European Committee of the Regions' Bureau meeting in Tallinn, Estonia this morning, endorsed the call of the MEP for Northern Ireland, Jim Nicholson, to European Commissioner Phil Hogan to provide EU Emergency Funding for farmers and agri-businesses and all those affected by the flash floods in Northern Ireland.

Speaking during the discussion and adoption of the Action Plan between the CoR and Climate Alliance, Alderman Hatch drew attention to the need for EU Emergency funding for those similarly affected in Donegal as requested by the Fine Gael MEP for Midlands-North West constituency.

"Extreme weather conditions can affect any region in Europe whether we are in the European Union or not, and the more we can do to mitigate against the worst effects of climate change the better", Alderman Hatch concluded.

Editor's notes

Parts of Northern Ireland were devastated by heavy flooding in August 2017. Infrastructure was devastated and as many as 100 people had to be rescued after fleeing their homes.